An Indelible Memory I Just Made Up

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 23140 – 1137

Greetings, Salutations, and Hi there, Herb’s Habitués!

Here’s the haps:

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Whenever I used to tell my kids a big story and they didn’t believe it I would say, “Well, it could have happened that way.” I still do.

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Grandma used to brag that the toys they bought when her kids were little were built to last, unlike the cheap plastic junk they make nowadays. In fact, she would often pull items out and tell the grandkids that this or that was a toy that their parent used to play with. She pulled out a big steel dump truck one day and the kids were all excited and a bit confused.

“That is so cool Grandma! Where is the on and off switch and the controller?”

“The on and off switch is in your head and the controller is your own two hands. You decide when to play with it and how; then you manually maneuver it from place to place. That way there’s no need for chargers or batteries and you can’t lose the controller.”

“That’s awesome, Grams! Can I go outside with it?” Which, of course, Grandma encouraged.

Meanwhile, for as long as anyone could remember, Grandpa used to sit in an old wooden rocking chair. He had a nice recliner but didn’t use it because it wasn’t comfortable for him. The angle of it was just kind of off for him and he had a hard time getting used to it. So, one night when we were over there, Dad tried putting shims under the recliner feet to change the angle, to see if that would make it better for him. Grandpa and Dad tried it out a couple of times until it was just right and the old man finally decided he liked the recliner and left the rocking chair.

While they were doing that, one of the kids asked Grandma if she had any more of the old games. She had taught them to play Jacks before and this time she was going to teach them how to play marbles. They were on a top shelf and instead of waiting to have someone come help her, she tried to reach the box down by herself. It was too heavy and awkward and the box hit the floor and broke, scattering marbles all over the place. I can still see that night vividly in my mind. The night that Grandpa was off his rocker and Grandma lost her marbles.

Well, it could have happened that way.